Question

What where the reasons the Soviet Union was in such dire economic straits during the later 1980s

Answer 1

An American strategic Defense Initiative was coasting the U.S vast amounts, and the USSR tried to keep up. 

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Answer 2

Answer:

Increasing amounts of defense spending.

Explanation:

One of the main reasons why the Soviet Union was in a bad economic situation in the late 1980s was because of the increasing amounts of money that it was spending on defense. A large part of the reason for this was the fact that the United States was also spending a large amount of money on defense, and the Soviet Union felt the need to keep up with it, as part of the legacy of the Cold War.